Evening Star
by Akrakataastreifa
Summary: When a new girl comes to town, it's cause for talk. When the new girl is 11,500 years old, interest levels are going to rise. When the new girl discovers a coven of vegetarian vampires, chaos is going to ensue. No duh...
1. I New Girls

**This is my Twilight Dark Hunter story. Just read. If you have any questions about it (i know i havent explained all that great) feel free to ask. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, or the Dark Hunters. Just Aria, Jeremiah Soder (not important) and Evenelyn (she isnt important either.)**

"Ash!" I yelled, trying desperately hard not to break something. I knew if I broke anything, when I calmed down I'd miss it. I mean, otherwise, it would have been bon voyage.

He stuck his head through the door with a confused expression on his face. Hah. As if I'd ever fall for that.

"What?" he said innocently. I just glared.

"You dragged to me to most godforsaken, damp, tiny town on the frigging face of the planet. You register me for high school, despite the fact that I am older than you, and you do not have to go. You pack me my most… un-school-like designer clothing to wear to this high school. Don't you dare act innocent."

So the breakdown of the current situation: Acheron Parthenopaeus, my idiotic twin brother moved to Forks, Washington. Where my brother went, I went. Although I was beginning to regret that…

We had been born in ancient Greece over eleven thousand years ago. I had been born a whole ten minutes before Ash, and fifteen before our brother-yet-not-our-brother Styxx. I knew ten minutes wasn't much of a claim to fame, but seeing as my brother towered a foot and a half over me, I didn't have much else going for me.

And while I usually loved him, right then I could have happily sent rabid wolves after him. Except Ash would kill the wolves, and even if he didn't, the wolves wouldn't be able to kill him, and the Weres would be upset, and it was all way too complicated to worry about at this indecent time of day.

Indecent being anything before two in the afternoon, of course.

"So what's wrong with designer?" he asked me. "You like designer. You maxed out one of my un-max-out-able credit cards on designer."

I gritted my teeth. "Very funny, Ash. You've seen my designer wardrobe. Do you really want me wearing _that_ around a mass of hormonal, crazed teenage boys? I don't know about you, but I'm not particularly fond of beating back masses of guys when I can't even use a baseball bat. I man, where's the fun if you can't substitute them for a piñata?"

This wasn't me boasting. Heck, I could probably turn up in rags and I'd have to fend off guys. I'd had to get used to the… results of my unique looks for eleven millennia now. I knew what I did to guys.

I was about 5'2", and willowy. We both had swirling silver irises. I had long platinum blonde hair at the moment; my natural colour. It was Ash's too, but he constantly dyed his hair to avoid remembering the past. I dealt with memories in a different way, by changing my name every few years. I started life as Ryssa. When my mother's people (my real mother, not my human one) found out who I was, the one who had damned them, they were all for killing me. Instead, I had run, and made myself a new identity.

I usually chose 'A' names. 'A' was about as far from 'R' as you could get in the alphabet.

I was currently going as Aria. I liked it. It was English and/or Italian, and meant 'gentle music', or 'melody'. Aria Akrakataastreifa. It had a nice ring to it, I thought. One of my mother's titles served as a last name.

I was eighteen, physically. I was twenty one when everyone assumed I was dead. I was three thousand years old when my people found out who I was and I had to flee, and change my name. Now I was eleven thousand, five hundred and fifty two, and having to go to high school. Yay.

I was Aria Akrakataastreifa, daughter of the Atlantean goddess of Destruction, twin to the harbinger to the end of the world. I had my own Charonte to look after me. I was immortal, and beautiful. I was going to kill my brother, one of these days.

"Don't worry, sis," he said, grinning. "Just remember all the fighting skills I've taught you, and you'll be fine. And all the rest of your clothing is coming up this weekend. You won't have to stave off those horrid, horny teenage boys for long."

"That's not the point!" I yelled.

"So what is the point?"

"I'm… not sure yet."

"I thought so," he smirked. I stalked over, whacked him on the shoulder, and stomped back to my bathroom with my clothes tossed over every available surface, awaiting inspection.

In the end, I chose a Gucci dress, white and fitted around the bust and waist, with a soft flare from the hips to give me some shape. It ended about halfway down my thigh. I teamed this with white leggings and a pair of white four inch heels covered in diamantes. Hey, a girl that's only five foot two needs all the height she can get.

I looked myself over in my full length mirror. But there was something missing. I liked the effect the white had on me; I looked ethereal, not quite human. Which was a good this, because I wasn't human. I smiled evilly at my reflection and quickly applied some smoky black eyeliner and eye shadow, and crimson lipstick. I blew a kiss to myself, grabbed my knee length coat (white, of course) and ran out the door to where Ash was waiting.

"If I get solicited today, Ash, I'm blaming you. And if anyone asks for my cell number, I'm giving them yours. Sound fair?"

"No!"

"Glad we've got that cleared up then."

"You fight dirty."

"Yeah, because you _always_ follow the rules…"

"Okay, okay. I give in. You win. I'll pick you up after school in your car, alright?"

"Sure thing. Meet you outside the office."

By now we had arrived at the school, before anyone else had. I opened the car door, and putting one foot out, twisted around to kiss my brother on the cheek. "See you after school."

"Uh huh. That is, if you don't get _solicited_."

I slammed the door and flipped him off as he drove away. I picked up my Prada shoulder bag, checked my favourite dagger was still there, squared my shoulders, and walked into the front office.

_Mental note to self: if ever decorating office, ensure said office looks nothing like this one._

Gross. Who on earth would have picked out orange checked carpet to 'match' purple counters? And they both clashed with the receptionist sitting behind aforementioned counters, in a bright lime green top. Yuck.

Schooling my face to neutrality, I approached the woman.

"Hello, I'm Aria Akrakataastreifa. I'm a new student here?"

"Of course you are. I would have remembered another student with a name like yours, who dressed like _that_."

I frowned. "What's wrong with how I'm dressed?"

"You do realize it rains here, right?"

I figured out what she was talking about at the same time my cheeks turned a light pink. "Yeah… that's what the coat is for." I mentally thanked a higher power that this woman couldn't see my shoes.

"Oh, okay. Now here's your schedule, and a map, and a slip you'll need to get signed by the teachers; you're to bring that back at the end of the day. Alright?"

"Alright. Thank you."

"No problem."

I left the office, and followed the flow of people to the classrooms. I looked down, trying to blend in with the crowd and succeeding (sort of), checking to see where my first class was. It was English, in room three. I glanced up and saw my room, made easier with the giant '3' pained on the side.

"That _would_ help," I muttered under my breath.

I followed two people inside, and watched them hang their coats on a rack just inside. I was horrified. My coat was designer! I wasn't going to leave it where anyone could just take it. In the end, after a little mental battle with myself (which I lost- embarrassing) I hung in on the very end hook, and resolved to watch it carefully. I loved that coat.

I walked to the teacher, called Mr Mason. He signed my slip while staring, quite rudely, I thought. He cleared his throat, and announced me to the class. I groaned inwardly.

"Class, this is our new student, Ryssa Parthenopaeus. I hope you'll all be very nice to her, and help her settle in, as this is her first day." God, he didn't even let me sit down first. And who did he think I was? A porcelain doll to be handled with utmost care? Then he turned to me and consolidated the nightmare.

"So, Ryssa, tell us a little about yourself."

I took a deep breath. "Well, first of all, my name isn't Ryssa." The whole class stared at me confusedly. "It's what's written on my birth certificate-" I knew this for a fact, as Ash had had to forge me one, "-but it isn't my name. No one uses it."

"So what _is_ your name then?" Mr Mason asked me, a little irritated now. I smiled coolly at him.

"My name is Aria Akrakataastreifa."

I distinctly heard the teacher mutter "Another unpronounceable name. After all the trouble I went to figuring out how to pronounce the first one…"

I giggled. "I'm eighteen. I live with my brother, Acheron, who is twenty one. My father is dead, and my mother… well, we can't visit our mother. I'm originally from Greece. I like to shop, and I'm into martial arts. Can I sit down now?"

"Of course," he said, flummoxed.

People stared at me all lesson. I took the opportunity to avoid the stairs by checking over the reading list; I groaned. I'd already read everything on it. I suppose that's what you get for being an immortal with nothing better to do.

At the end of the lesson I jumped up and near ran for the coat. Having grabbed it, I moved out of everyone else's way and shrugged it on. One boy came over and tried to impress me by looking cool. It wasn't working: I could see him sweat.

"Hi. I'm Eric. Eric Yorkie." He was tall, with black hair that was slicked back, and a bad case of acne. He seemed like the overly helpful, chess club type all out geek.

"Hi. Rya."

"Didn't you say Aria before?"

"Yeah, but I like to be called Rya, you know, like a nickname."

"Oh. Okay. What do you have now?"

"Government with Jefferson, building six," I recited. I had a fantastic memory. Sadly, it only seemed to work on the stupidest things, like the number of time my brother had dyed his hair purple in the last three months, the area code to call Antarctica, and which class I had next in this damp hell hole.

"I'm headed in that direction. Maybe I could show you the way?"

Yeah. Definitely overly helpful.

"I don't see why not," I managed.

After three more lessons all passing in the same boring fashion, it was lunch time. I was steered to the cafeteria by two girls, one even shorter than I was, about five feet, although her curly hair made up another four inches. I suppressed a smile at the thought that if I was wearing flats, her hair would reach higher than me.

The other was around 5'4", and had long brown hair, with eyes to match. She was actually really quite pretty, more so than the motor mouth between us.

The girl, who had some kind of common name… Jodie? Jamie? kept talking a mile a minute. I just nodded and 'uh huh' ed every so often to make it appear I was paying attention. Once I reached the cafeteria proper, I had had about as much as I could take.

I glanced out the corner of my eye. The other girl, Bella, I thought her name was, also looked bored. In the lunch line I gave up paying attention to motor mouth and motioned for Bella to follow me. I chose a spot well away from everyone else and sat across from Bella.

"Are you new as well?" I asked her. She nodded, blushing scarlet. I waited a minute to see if she as going to say anything, but kept going when it became apparent she wasn't going to. "I think I have you in my Trigonometry and Spanish classes."

"Yeah," she whispered. I noticed her glancing back at the table where Jessica- I finally remembered her name- was sitting with her friends.

"Don't look at them. No, don't look at them. You'll only encourage them. You know that Jess girl is only following us so she can have some popularity, right?"

She jerked up to stare at me. Guess she didn't know that after all.

"Well," I amended, "It's true. If she really wanted us as friends, she would have actually asked us about ourselves and listened to a reply. Instead, she spent a whole five minutes droning on about why we should associate with Jeremiah Soder, why Evanelyn Harper has a cold sore, and why Mike Newton is like, such a babe. Not exactly best buddy material there."

"Well," she said quietly, "Who else is there?"

I felt offended. Just for a moment. Then I realized that she was horribly shy, and not up to approaching anyone on her own. Now I felt guilty.

I smiled gently at her. "There's me. You know what, let's make a deal. We'll hang out, be bestest buddies, do each other's nails and what not, and in return, you promise me you won't abandon me to the wrath of Jessica. Sound fair?"

She was still for a moment. Then she grinned. "Very fair. As long as you don't abandon me to Jessica either."

I grinned back. "Alright then."


	2. II Topic No 32 The Cullens

I stared at Bella

I stared at Bella. Bella stared at me. God, we were both idiots.

Then we were both laughing. She was clutching her sides in an attempt to keep breathing. I was holding on to the table for dear life, hoping that my grip was enough to save me from slipping off

My breath left me in a gasp as my ass made contact with the floor. I guess my grip wasn't good enough after all.

Everyone was staring at us now. I didn't really care, though I could tell Bella did from the scarlet stain on her cheeks.

"Sorry," I mumbled, dragging myself back up to my seat.

"It's okay," she said. "At least it wasn't me everyone was gawking at." Then she appeared to notice something. "Hey, who are they, in the corner?"

I looked over to where she was pointing discretely. "Topic number 32 that that Jess was rambling on about. 'They', my dear girl, are the Cullens." Like I said: I only remember the stupid things.

There were five of them at the table; three guys, two girls. One guy looked to be only about two inches shorter than by brother's six foot eight. He had short brown curly hair, and could have been a professional weight lifter. He reminded me of old Thunderbutt himself, Zeus.

The girl sitting next to him was a tall blonde, filled out in all the right places. Give her red hair, and more revealing clothing, and she would be another Artemis. Because one wasn't nearly enough…

The other blonde, a boy, or more of a man, really, I presumed to be the twin of the girl; I recalled Jess mentioning that two of them were twins. He was also tall and muscular, but not to the extreme the brunette was. Actually, he looked the spitting image of Apollo. I growled quietly at the thought.

Next to this boy was another girl. Ridiculously skinny and short, she looked like a pixie. She had short black hair that was spiked up, and appeared to be wearing Gabbana. There wasn't really a goddess she reminded me of. Probably for the best.

The last boy sat a little away from the others, and unlike them, didn't seem to be attached to anyone else. He was tall, but lanky compared to the other guys. He had reddish brown hair, almost a bronze colour. And he was gorgeous. Sans the hair, he appeared just like my favourite sculpture of Hermes. No one knew what he really looked like. He was always moving too fast; all you saw was a blur.

None of them really looked anything alike. And yet, they looked identical. They all had alabaster skin, even paler than my own. They all had purplish bruises under their eyes like they were all suffering from chronic insomnia. And their aforementioned eyes were a butterscotch shade in colour.

I saw that Bella also was taking stock, and decided to fill her in on the details.

"Jess actually filled me in on quite a bit about them. Apparently they're all adopted. The one who looks like a runaway from the circus sideshow is Emmett. His brother and sister, Edward and Alice are the bronze haired one and the short one. The other two are the Hale twins, Rosalie and Jasper. According to Jess, the local gossip girl, Emmett and Rosalie, and Alice and Jasper are together. She also said Rosalie could be a model, but… well, I've seen prettier."

At this point, Bella looked at me in disbelief.

"I asked her if Edward was with anybody, but she just glared at me and changed the subject, so I'm guessing she asked him out and he turned out to have had better taste than that."

"Not that that's very hard…" Bella said, smiling wickedly.

"No, it wouldn't be. I mean, come on. Did you see what she was wearing?"

The conversation continued on like this until the end of lunch, when we parted; she to chemistry, I to biology.

As I came in, I saw Edward was here, with the only available chair. I walked past him to get to the teacher so he could sign my slip. But as I drew level with him, he turned with a violent glare, filled with hate. I froze. All I could think of was _I haven't even met him yet. What have I done? Did he hear us gossiping about them? Why does he hate me?_

I felt my hand reach into my bag, towards the secret pocket where I kept my dagger. Realizing what I was doing, what I was about to do, I yanked my hand away and continued towards the teacher.

There were no other available seats. Now, for the rest of the year, I was stuck next to him. As I sat, he leaned away, presumably in revulsion, like he smelled something bad.

I lifted an eyebrow. "Bloody hell," I muttered under my breath, still staring at him as if he was certifiable. "Way to make a girl feel comfortable. I showered and everything."

I didn't intend for him to hear me, but he must've, because he turned to send me another glower. Fury and some hatred of my own coursed through me, and I sent him my own angry look, one I had spent centuries perfecting, one Ash liked to refer to as the 'Slitty-Eyed Death Glare'.

His eyes widened as he turned away from me again. I settled in my seat, pulling my long hair from its braid as I did so. If I was standing, my hair would have been at my knees. As it was, it nearly brushed the floor. I pulled it over one shoulder to keep it out of the way.

I steadily ignored Edward for the rest of the class, only daring to peek over every so often. Each time I did so, he was still facing the opposite direction; gaze carefully averted from my own.

About halfway through the class, I gave up on writing the notes in proper English and switched to ancient Greek: much more comfortable that way. Now all I had to worry about was someone trying to read over my shoulder. Yeah, that'd be real fun trying to explain.

When the bell rang, Edward was out of his chair and out the door before anyone else had stood. Really furious now, I threw my notebook back in my bag and stormed out not far after him.

Now it was time for gym. Yay. It turned out I wasn't expected to participate on my first day; a good thing, as I didn't really feel up to whacking a ball around a court for an hour. I pasted on a suitably 'ill' expression and asked the coach if I could go to the office, as I wasn't feeling well. He gave me the lesson off happily, as I knew I looked like I was about to throw up at any moment.

I grabbed my bag and stalked to a secluded area, pulling out my cell phone. I hit the speed dial for my brother. It only rang for a second before he answered.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Come pick me up. _Now._"

"What's wrong?"

"I'm feeling a little bit livid right now, and I would rather avoid killing someone if I could."

"Who did what?"

"This dick in Biology."

"I'm nearly there."

"God bless you, Ash."

"As if any of them would. They're all too afraid of me."

I laughed once and cut the connection, running to the front office as I did. I faked my sick look again, handed the receptionist my papers, and said my brother was nearly here, and thanks for all the help.

I ran out of the office again into the parking lot. And joy of joys, there was Edward again, sitting in his car. I smirked at him as he glared back, only breaking it off as my brother tore into the lot. He stopped right in front of me and shut off the engine, getting out at the same time.

I jumped for joy at seeing my car again. My baby, my Porsche Boxter. I had missed her so.

"You are my favouritest, favouritest brother ever!" I told him as I hugged him.

He shook with laughter. "I'm your only brother, sis."

"The only one I would ever admit to being related to, anyway," I said as I leaned over the door to plant a light kiss on the steering wheel.

"Of course." He sobered as he continued, switching to Greek as he did so, in case anyone was listening. "Now, who's the asshole who's making trouble for my sister?"

"See for yourself," I said, pointing to where Edward sat in his Volvo. Immediately Ash growled, and his eyes did what most people referred to as the 'Freaky Fire Dance'. The slowly swirling silver turned to a violently churning scarlet. I lay one hand on his arm as he started to stalk over to the Volvo.

"Don't. He's not worth it." I switched back to English. "Is that Godsmack I hear playing?"

"Yep," he answered, still not looking at me.

"Well, change it. I'm in an Evanescence mood. Heck, anything loud and depressing will do."

He grinned. "Loud and depressing? Good choice. We have lots."

The bell rang, shocking both of us out of our private world. Students started pouring into the parking lot and stopped as they saw my brother and I next to a ridiculously expensive car, and one of the Cullens glaring at us like there was no tomorrow.

The only thing to be heard was Evanescence's 'Bring Me to Life' playing loudly. I took advantage of the lull by stealing the keys out of Ash's hand and jumping over the door into the driver's seat.

"In," I commanded.

As soon as he did, I revved the engine, smiling lovingly as I did so. Then I accelerated, roaring out of the lot at eighty miles per hour, leaving the gawking students behind us.


	3. III Daimon? No, there's daylight

**I am so, so sorry this took so long. V, Kortz, I had assignments. Please, understand?  
This isnt a great chapter, but it was necessary. Action will resume next chapter. I wish i bloody owned these characters. Also, I made a mistake first chapter. This is what i get for screwing with timelines, I suppose. I fixed the mistake, and explain in this one, kk?**

I dumped my bag in a corner as soon as I got home, waving off my brother's questions in favour of a shower.

I stood under the pulsing spray for a long time. Apparently Ash thought so too, because he checked up on me.

"You okay in there Rya? You've been in there for over an hour now."

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You tell me. Are you trying to drown yourself or something?"

I rolled my eyes. "If I was drowning myself, I would be bathing instead of showering, not that my personal suicide preferences are any of your business. It'd just be easier that way. Drowning myself in the shower is kind of like throwing a bird off a cliff to kill it. It just doesn't work."

He sighed. "So the 'dick in Biology', as you so aptly put it, has no affect on you whatsoever?"

"None."

"So are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Not while I'm in the shower, I'm not," I said, smiling to myself.

"Oh. Whoops."

I stood there a little while longer, just enjoying the feel of the water soaking into my muscles. I sighed, and reluctantly turned off the water.

I quickly dressed myself in a white top and white jeans.

It was my signature thing, as I usually alternated between keeping my hair blonde, and dyeing it midnight black. So when I changed my hair colour, I changed my wardrobe colour scheme to match. When I was ice blonde, I wore all white designer; chic and elegant. When my hair was black, I wore black leather and velvets (not at the same time), lace and pointy toed boots with bat buckles up the sides. When questioned about my evangelical/goth styles of dress, I usually just replied that the monochromes made the laundry easier.

I walked down the stairs into the kitchen.

"So…" he said. "Feel like spilling?"

I chewed my lip idly as I thought over my day. To tell truth, I didn't really know why I had reacted the way I did. Then it hit me.

Edward Cullen had looked at me the same way my father and brother had. With hatred, and loathing. Disgust.

My breath caught in my throat. I was frozen where I stood, for the second time that day.

"I just figured something out."

"And that would be?" he asked impatiently.

I sat down on the couch, staring at the television blankly as I thought of how to phrase my epiphany.

"It was like… I was human again. I haven't seen anyone look at me like that since Didymos." I faltered as the name of my childhood home lift my lips. "It's weird, not having everyone all lusty as I walk by."

As a baby, we were taken from our mother, Apollymi, to the human realm for our protection by Apollymi's sister, the patron goddess of festivities and desire. She lay her hands on us, and so it was virtually impossible for either of us to go anywhere without being hit on.

It had been worse for Ash as a human. His powers hadn't warded everyone off, so there were frequently riots and brawls over him when he had dared go out uncovered. I had been kept in solitude for the first seventeen years of life before being sold to Apollo, so it wasn't as much of a problem.

But it was disorienting, after having put up with it for so long, for nothing to happen.

Ash was frowning at me, upset at me bringing up that period of our life. It wasn't something either of us liked to think about.

I continued on my train of thought, on a roll now. "Actually, it was like… he _wasn't_ human."

In a flash, Ash was sitting bolt upright, staring at me with a fierce intensity.

"What do you think he is? Daimon?"

Daimons were the real life version of the common Hollywood vampire. Created before my birth, they were a race of beings, originally called Apollites, created by Apollo to rival Thunderbutt's humans. When I was sent to him, he immortalized me at the age of eighteen, not wanting to lose my ethereal beauty to the ravages of time. His words, not mine. I had a child by him. Apollodorus. Again, not my choice. Two days after my twenty first birthday, the Atlantean queen, jealous of me- I had no idea _why_- sent her guards to kill me and my son. I was brought back by Ash. My son, however was not.

Apollo, outraged that someone dare cross someone as high and mighty as he, cursed his Apollites with three things. To spontaneously combust when caught in daylight, so the miffed god of the sun wouldn't have to see them. To have to drink each other's blood instead of eat. And to die horribly, painfully, and slowly on their twenty seventh birthday, the age Apollo seemed to think I died at. Flattering. He cared so much for me that he was off my age by six years.

Lots of the cursed, previously immortal Apollites didn't like the thought of such a short life span, and turned to my mother, who showed them how to survive longer by 'sucking' out human souls. But the souls couldn't live in the unnatural conditions and started dying immediately. So they were always hunting. For them, the human blood was just a bonus.

So the thought of one being at my school, in our town was quite scary.

I rolled my eyes. "Hel­-_lo_? Daylight!"

"Oh. Charonte?"

Charontes were the Atlantean god's bodyguards, for lack of a better term. Think Artemis Fowl and Butler. Winged, fanged, horned, and temperamental, they were some of the best friends I had. Ash had one named Simi. She was a handful, that one. She liked to shop, liked to eat, liked BBQ sauce on _everything_, was allergic to rubber, bought diamond jewellery for snacks, and was infatuated with Travis Fimmel. She was treated like Ash's daughter, and was my best friend, my confidant.

"Nope. Not nutty enough. He didn't try to eat me. Not Charonte."

"Gallu?"

Gallu demons were the lowest of the low. Even below Daimons, who were frequently regarded as idiotic cowards out for the easiest kill possible. They were created by the Sumerian gods as their defence against the hated Atlantean's Charontes.

I scowled at nothing in particular. "I don't think so. No red eyes, only one set of teeth."

Ash sucked in a breath as a thought hit him. "Do you think he might be a Dimme?"

Dimme were the ultimate prank on all the pantheons. If anything should happen to the Sumerians (yes, those fuckers again), and not be around to seal their prison again, they would be released on an unsuspecting earth. They were unstoppable killing machines. Six of the seven were still imprisoned. One was escaped. It might be a plausible theory but…

"Ash, all the Dimme are women."

He looked away, blushing. "Oh. I forgot."

I sighed and stood to go back to my room. "I'll just watch him discretely, until we figure out what to do. Good night Ash," I said, walking over and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

As I lay in bed that night, I came up with my plan. I would watch this Edward, like I had told Ash, but I would also use this new found antagonism to my advantage. If he was going to hate me, I was bloody well going to have fun with it.

**So, mostly just an explainative, filler chapter, telling you more about her history, and the extremely messed up world they all inhabit.**

**Till next time, which hopefully wont take so long next time.**


	4. IV Nutrition and Lucifer

**Thses are genuine convos me and some frineds have had... it's scary stuff. 'Nother filler, but quite humorous. Enjoy. **

**I bloody wish I owned Twilight...**

I dressed for courage the next day. Knowing I looked good (or at least, even better than I usually did) gave me an extra burst of confidence and dignity to carry out my plan.

I decided to go with another dress, this one of white lace. It was cut low at the neck with three quarter sleeves and fell to mid thigh. I paired this with another pair of heels; five inches this time. Hey, the guy was a solid foot taller than me. Not that that was very hard, but still…

I grabbed my beloved coat and Prada bag on my way out, checking to make sure my dagger was still there, and it was still in great condition. Then, as a second thought, I ran back up to my room, and selected another dagger out of my extensive collection, strapping its sheath to my forearm underneath my sleeve. I grinned inwardly as I thought of all the fun I could have with my second favourite of blades, the castration knife.

I decided to make a grand entrance at lunch. And it worked. The doors banged open dramatically. Heads turned, as one, to where I stood, framed by the entrance, Bella standing behind me, trying desperately to blend in with the background. I felt like snorting. As if that was going to happen.

I led Bella to the lunch line, and waited patiently for her to select and pay for her meal. When we walked over to where we had sat the previous day, our section of seating had been taken, so we had no choice to move further down the table towards the Cullens. One Cullen in particular.

Who was not there.

I resisted banging my head on the table with great difficulty. I reached over to where I had dumped my bag and pulled out a bag of Starburst's Party Mix. My favourites were the snakes, and the dark green babies. I chewed on one thoughtfully as I watched Bella eat her pizza.

"How can you knowingly put that in your mouth?" I asked her, genuinely curious.

She shrugged. "It's not that hard. You pick up the food-"

"If you can call that food," I interrupted.

"-pick up the food, open your mouth, and place it in. Challenging for some, I know, but I've never found it all that taxing. And anyway, hark who's talking. This is coming from a girl who is eating pure sugar and preservatives."

I suddenly had the strangest feeling someone was listening. I wasn't wrong. I glanced towards the Cullens out of the corner of my eye and saw them watching us interestedly, Emmett with hilarity, Rosalie with horror, Jasper with unconcern, and Alice with inquisition.

I looked back to Bella, awaiting an answer to her question.

"Yes, it's sugar and preserves, but it's _good_ sugar and preserves-"

She burst in much like I had her. "Is there such a thing, Rya?"

"-but they _are_ good. At least they aren't lying to you about the nutritional value. They just come right out and say it's bad for you. That crap you're eating they try and pass off as healthy, when anyone with better vision than an old, decrepit, cataract-ridden naked mole rat can see it'll take years off your life, I swear. And when I get older "-not that I ever would "- I'll need all the bloody preservatives I can get."

Actually, I was just bullshitting about nutritional value. I thought (and believed) that my words were true, but it wasn't something I didn't need to worry about. A really cool side effect of being immortal was being able to live off junk food and TV dinners without adverse health affects or cholesterol. But I ate well most of the time anyway.

"You know, she's got a point there." My well honed hearing caught this comment that I was obviously not supposed to catch, from the Cullens, oddly enough. It was Emmett who had spoken, in a deep rumble, rather like distant thunder.

"But isn't she worried about getting fat?" Rosalie talked now, in a rich, pleasing alto, sounding anxious.

"Obviously not, Rose." Alice had a high piping voice, like wind chimes, or a chorale of flutes.

"So tell me. Why are we listening in breathlessly to a conversation that doesn't concern us in the least? And the topic isn't even something that concerns us either." That was Jasper. His voice matched his appearance; dark and brooding.

I was a little confused by his comments, but let it pass as I continued to chat to Bella about the crap the cafeteria was serving.

"Honestly, you'd think it was a government funded attempt to kill off all students in the Forks region…"

Slowly the conversation turned to a game of twenty questions. I was being careful with my answers, not wanting to give away anything vital, but trying not to lie at the same time.

So far, I had managed to get Bella to admit her most prized possession was her copy of _Wuthering Heights_ and that she fainted at the sight of blood. I had told her that my favourite piece of clothing was my thigh high leather boots with chunky heels, and laced up the front. I had also admitted that I would much rather be reading up on my mythology than be listening to teachers drone on about the importance of trigonometry and calculus. I was an immortal. What use did I have for needlessly complicated math? Wasn't this why calculators were invented anyway?

"Mythology?" I heard Emmett ask.

"Yeah, like Lucifer and Beelzebub and God and the angles and stuff." Boy oh boy was Jasper wrong there.

I glanced at my cell phone, checking the time. I stood; the rain had eased, and I wanted to get to class before it began pouring again.

"I thought Lucifer and Beelzebub were the same person," Emmett replied.

"No they aren't," Jasper argued. I rolled my eyes at their naiveté, and paused as I walked past them.

"Actually, boys, Beelzebub is the Devil's second in command, as Gabriel is God's."

Emmett frowned. "Aw, man! Jasper _can't _be right. And how do you know that?"

"We're drinking buddies," I said sarcastically. "Every Friday, we take the night off and go get plastered. Have any of you seen _The Chronicles of Riddick_? After a few Bloody Mary's we go out and play Keira's game, 'Who's the Better Killer". Luscious Lucy keeps saying the best way to get 'em is with a food processor, but I'm of the firm opinion death by egg timer is much more vicious. Don't ask, you don't want to know all the details."

With that as a parting shot, I allowed myself a victorious smirk as I strode off to class.

**Tada! Whaddaya think?**


	5. V No 54 Altogether, No 17 Freshman

**I'm sorry this has taken so long, faithful (and even not-so-faithful) readers. My boss is an asshole (and I don't care if they're reading this now. If you are, it's true, you are, we all know it. You may want to work on that.) and homework is piling up. My parents stole my keyboard and mouse, and I stole my brother's computer. Anyway. I hope you enjoy this. Please please please review: I put up the last two chapters and got all of three reviews. WTF?**

He didn't come back. The rest of the week, he was absent. Was it really all because of little old me?

My first weekend was uneventful. The rest of my things came, as promised, and I managed to unpack the rest of my things, and set up my room.

It was _gorgeous._ The room itself was semicircular, on the second floor, and the curved wall was all glass. Currently I was looking out over the night sky, although I could probably see it through the wispy black curtains. The carpet was a thick black, and the bed was sunken into the floor, also draped in black, silks this time. The walls were painted a deep crimson, and the ceiling was black as well. Most people thought it was morbid, but I found it soothing.

My small collection of CDs rested on their own bookshelf, organized by genre, and then by favourite. Every style of music had its own section of shelf to call home. Right next to them was another bookshelf filled with photographs, portraits, engravings, and paintings from various eras of all the people I had known. The last bookshelf was filled with my favourite stories. Classics, histories, plays, romances, fantasies. Harry Potter lived side by side with the Da Vinci Code, which rested next to Crown Duel, sharing accommodations with The Viscount Who Loved Me. Plus, I had a whole shelf dedicated to vampire novels. My brother thought I was nuts, but he loved me anyway.

The bottom floor underneath my bedroom held my armoire and bathroom. Tastefully decorated in various shades of blues, blacks, and silvers, I loved them. If it wasn't completely stupid to even consider, I would probably spent a lot more time in there than I did already.

Monday came, and I met it with a halter neck top that tied around the back of my neck, knee length skirt and another pair of my trusty heels.

As I walked out of class with Mike, I was greeted with little fluffy bits of-

"Snow!" I exclaimed. I hadn't been anywhere snowy in _ages._ Before I came here, I was wandering around California, for the most part. I missed the soggy wet stuff.

"Haven't you seen snow before?" he asked me, an incredulous look on his face.

I just looked at him, thinking quickly. "Hello, I'm from Greece. Name me one snowy place in Greece, with sunny Mediterranean beaches galore. Just one."

"Oh." He flushed. He opened his mouth to speak some more, but he was cut off by a snowball to the back of the head. He turned wildly and saw Eric walking away- in the wrong direction for his next class. Mike obviously had the same epiphany as I did, because he immediately bent low and started piling together his own ball of wet mush.

"I'll see you later, okay?" he said. While I loved snow, I was also wearing a lot of white, and had nothing with me to change into, so I hightailed it to my next class.

After sitting in a dazed stupor induced by teachers with no concept of making a class even _remotely_ interesting, I walked to the cafeteria. Getting into line with Bella and Angela, who had been quick to abandon the gossipy Jess for a more reality based existence, I quickly glanced over to the Cullen table, as had become my habit.

Only to freeze in shock. Instead of the four I had become used to, there were five at the table. _Five_. Edward Cullen was back.

"Rya?" Angela asked me. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," I said shakily, tearing my eyes away. "Yeah, I'm fine." I turned towards our usual table, just a few seats away from the Cullens.

Bella grabbed my forearm; I had to try desperately not to slug her with everything I had. I _hated_ being held by my arms. My father- not that I'd ever admit I was related to him aloud- had grabbed me like that. Call me crazy, but I wasn't exactly fond of the action.

"Aren't you hungry?"

I forced a laugh and ripped my arm out of her grasp. I may have only been immortal, with no actual powers or anything, but training with my God-of-Fate, omniscient, omnipotent brother had given me remarkable strength.

"Silly Bella. I might be hungry, but I'll never be that hungry. Haven't you realized by now I refuse to eat this toxic waste? Poison your system all you like, but don't expect me to jump on the bandwagon."

I saw hurt on Bella's face, and immediately felt bad. I bit my lip.

"Sorry. That was uncalled for. I'll be… over there, okay?"

To my surprise, Angela followed me. I raised an eyebrow. "Aren't _you_ going to eat anything?"

She shook her head. "I'm on a diet," she confessed.

I frowned at her as we sat. "Why? You're lighter than I am, and I'm underweight."

She frowned back at me. "You're underweight? But you look so… _solid_."

I smiled, shaking my head. "It's muscle. Nice way to avoid my question, by the way."

Bella came over and joined us. "What did I miss?"

"Angela here is apparently under the impression she needs to lose weight. I, for some unfathomable reason, am going to meddle in her business and try to convince her not to. Failing that, I am going to use aforementioned muscle and force her to eat, whether she likes it or not," I explained, leaning over the table towards Angela mock-threateningly.

I would have continued on, but I was interrupted by a red faced freshman appearing next to me.

Having a good idea of what he wanted, I raised one eyebrow disdainfully. "Yes?" I asked coldly.

He flushed. "Umm, I was wondering…if…" I couldn't hear the rest of his sentence, he spoke so quietly. However, I was very, very sure he wanted me to go on a date with him, so I endeavoured to embarrass him a little. I mean, come on. I was a junior: he was a freshman.

"What was that? I missed it." By this point, Bella was hard pressed to contain her laughter, and Angela was having a fit, banging against the table and all.

He flushed some more. Good. I was sick of this.

"I was wondering…if…you wanted to come to dinner with me on Friday?"

I pretended to mull it over for a while, before slowly shaking my head. "I think I'm busy."

"Doing what?"

I smiled cruelly. "Reorganizing my sock collection. It's hard work, but it has to be done."

Bella lost her tenuous grip on control and burst out laughing uncontrollably.

"Are you alright, Bella? Do you need anything? A drink of water?" Angela seemed genuinely worried. Over laughter?

"Maybe something stronger," I muttered, peeved she would take so much delight in my pain. "How about cyanide?"

During this little exchange, the freshman had trudged off, visibly upset.

"My God, that's the fifty third person to ask me out. Not that I'm counting." Note I said person, not guy. Yeah, there was a reason for that. "And that makes the seventeenth freshman alone. I don't know what I did to encourage them, but I sincerely apologize. Someone let me know what it was, and I'll be sure to stop it soon as I can."

The rest of our lunch passed that way, as all our lunches did until the bell rang. Bidding Bella farewell for the moment, Angela and I walked to Biology together.

**Some Edward action, coming right up.**


	6. VI Not Greek That I've Ever Seen

**And welcome to the next installment of Evening Star, Dear Readers. Know that it continues hard on the heels of the last chapter, so be warned. Sorry for leaving this so late, but I had about three plot bunnies hit me while I was escaping the country. Fear not, this story will be continued, finished, and sequeled multiple times. Enjoy.**

I sat down gracefully in my assigned seat, and prepared myself for another lesson of hate filled glares. It wasn't anything I couldn't and hadn't dealt with before, but all the same, I didn't deliberately invite that sort of behaviour. Ash would tell you differently, but I maintain…

I involuntarily stiffened as he sat down, but kept ignoring him as the lesson began and I took notes in flawless ancient Greek.

He leaned over suddenly, causing me to jump slightly when he spoke.

"Is that _Greek_?"

His voice was beautiful, velvety, and soft; it was the words and tone I didn't like.

"Yeah." I kept it short, sweet.

"Really? Because it doesn't look like any Greek _I've_ ever seen."

I started speaking as if to an idiot. "Funny, because they're Greek _letters_, spelling out Greek _words_-"

"None that _I've_ ever seen," he muttered again quietly.

"Well it's all Greek to me," I snapped out sarcastically before clapping one hand over my mouth. "_Please_ tell me I didn't just say that. Of all the clichéd stupid sayings I could have come out with-" I stopped when I saw the weird look Edward was giving me.

"Did I just say that aloud?"

He nodded, still staring at me like I should be a resident at the funny farm. Ha. As if my home life wasn't already like a funny farm anyway, what with the phone calls and emails and people poofing in and out at all times of the day and night.

"Oh well. You'll get over it."

Silence reigned for a few more moments before he leaned towards me again. "Are you translating as you write?"

Did this guy miss out on Survival Class 101? His natural instincts should have been warning him to stay away from me altogether, let alone when I was getting ticked off.

"Nah," I drawled, glaring slightly. "I'm listening to what he says, and then pausing time, pulling out my Palm Pilot ™, figuring out what I should be writing down and then copying it out before starting time back up again. Really, Edward. What did you think I was doing?"

He looked like he wanted nothing more than for this lesson to end. I could understand that; hell, I could sympathize.

"So what brings you to Forks?"

Beginning to wish he'd stayed mute and glaring, I answered "My brother."

He nodded. "That's right. You live with him." It was a statement, not a question, but I replied like it was anyway.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

This irritated me for some reason. "Why not?"

"Because… he's only twenty one and looking after an eighteen year old. What do you do for money?"

"That's a little crass, don't you think? But since you asked, we're independently wealthy." I was trying to answer the questions truthfully without revealing any… important details. It was

He frowned. "What about your parents?"

"Patere isn't really an option, because he's dead. Matera isn't a choice either."

"Why not?"

By this time, I was seriously considering the best way to castrate someone with nothing more than a plastic pen.

"She lives a long way away." The Atlantean Hell Realm, to be exact. "The two of us can't see her." Or, at the very least, Ash couldn't. Not without bringing about the end of the world.

"Why not?" Ye Gods, did he never stop?

"Because she killed Patere, that's why not."

"Oh."

I wrote down some more notes in the ensuing silence.

"Why'd she do that?"

I was really beginning to get mad. I hated people prying into my private life. It was hard enough to hide when no one noticed us. It was immeasurably more difficult when people were actively looking.

"He deserved it! He tried to kill her and us first. He got what was coming to him, and none of us has any regret. He wasn't exactly a great father."

Edward didn't seem to know what to say to this. Thank God.

Before he could think of another way to inquire about me, I turned the tables back on him.

"So… you're adopted, right?"

He stiffened momentarily. "Yes, that's right."

"What were your birth parents like?"

"I don't remember much about them."

"What do you remember?"

"That they were good people."

I snorted softly, but not unkindly. "That's specific."

"It's enough."

The rest of the class passed in relative quiet, with neither Edward nor myself so much as glancing at the other until once everyone had packed up. He opened his mouth to say something, but the bell cut him off as I left the room.

The remainder of my day was uneventful as well. Gym was a blur, and I was sure I worried Ash with my lack of activity.

I got to school the next day later than I usually would, due to the snow solidifying overnight into ice. I was wondering about the lack of trouble on my way there when I noticed silver on my tires.

Snow chains.

I smiled to myself. _Thank you, Ash._

That peaceful thought was interrupted, however, by a high-pitched screech.

I turned around to see a van sliding out of control straight towards me.

_Ah, shit._

I had never been grateful for my death before. But as I thought about it in the split second available, I realized that if I hadn't died, Apollo wouldn't have damned the Apollites. If that hadn't happened, I wouldn't have had to fight the Daimons and develop fantastic reflexes. And if that hadn't happened…

I dove under the van before curling up into a ball to avoid the squealing tyres.

**Dum dum _duuuuuum!_ Isn't it dramatic?**

**I expect reviews people. On Dying Inside, I actually dot more of a response when I said I was leaving than I did when I announced I was coming back. Does that seem wrong to anyone else?**

**So I will not be updating until I receive adequate reviews. If I receive them, I will (should) update the Sunday after next, alright?**


	7. VII A Not So Familiar Face

You know how they say, when in mortal danger, your life flashes before your eyes?

Well, that's complete and utter bullshit. I knew this for a fact. I'd come close to dying more times than I owned fluffy romance novels. And I owned a lot of fluffy romance novels. And even if it was true, there was way too much life to be flashed. There just wouldn't be time.

I waited, watching for the opportune moment to dive back out from underneath the out of control vehicle. Right as I was about to move, however, the van stopped. Completely.

I spun round, trying to figure out what had happened. And there was Edward; hands still _embedded_ in the van, jerking his head indicating now would be a very good time to make my escape.

I rolled (ninja style of course, I wouldn't consider anything less) out from the undercarriage of the van and stood shakily, on a small high from the adrenaline. It had been too long since I had last gotten a rush.

I jumped when Edward made his presence known behind me. "Are you alright?" he asked.

I tried to answer him; I truly did. But the events of the last few weeks caught up with me: Ash's discovery that he had a daughter, my discovery I was an aunt. Finding out the end of the world was due in a matter of days, having to reimprison the cause of the apocalypse, having one escape. Moving to this small town and discovering something _not quite right_ with my schoolmates.

All the pent up feelings I had had suddenly hit me all at once, and I promptly fainted.

I woke up, immediately taking stock of my surroundings. You never knew which detail would be the one to save your ass.

White ceiling, white walls. Nothing covering the blankness of the room. Whoever decorated the place was pretty bland.

I blinked a few times. The boring whiteness didn't go away. Damn.

A flash of movement caught my eye; a golden head entered the room, walking towards me so smoothly it appeared he was gliding. I was suddenly sent back in time to a ballroom thousands of miles, and two hundred years away, where another blond eerily similar to this one honed in on me in just the same, and slightly disturbing manner.

But it couldn't be…

I was distracted from these unsettling thoughts by the doctor. "How are you going?"

"Just fine," I said coolly.

"That was a pretty nasty hit you took, Edward tells me," he said, now examining the x-rays.

I rolled my eyes. "Ask him how I got the concussion, doctor."

"Carlisle," he said, extending one hand. I frowned a little as I shook it, wondering where on Earth, Katoteros, Kalosis, or Olympus I'd heard that name before.

"So how did you get the concussion then, Miss Parthenopaeus?"

"Akrakataastreifa," I corrected him automatically. "After I successfully avoided injury at the hands- well, wheels- of the vehicle, Edward dropped me. Failed to catch, really, but it all amounts to the same thing."

He smiled then. "Alright then. Well, just be careful of what you do for a while, and if you have any problems with your eyesight, you give me a call, understand?"

"Uh huh, whatever," I said, getting off the bed and rushing to the door. I was blocked from my escape, however, by none other than Edward, who looked scandalized that I was being released.

"Father! She has a concussion! You can't just let her leave!"

I _hated _being talked over. I suppose it was inevitable, considering my height, but did people have to act like I wasn't in the room if I wasn't in their direct line of sight?

Glaring at him, I replied: "I'll bet you anything you like; it'll be all healed by the time I get to school tomorrow. Not even a bump."

His eyes flashed as he glowered down at me. "Fine. You're on."

"Fine," I echoed, but my heart wasn't in it. I glanced down, and then back up as my breath caught in my throat. My first thoughts of him came rushing back to me. He was _gorgeous_.

"Bet big, boy," I said as I brushed past him, trying to hide my sudden revelation. "Otherwise it just isn't worth the effort."

Lucky me, I got the rest of the day off of school. As soon as I got through the door, I started yelling.

"Ash! Get your pasty white oversized ass down here!"

"So polite," he replied smartly, appearing instantly in the lounge room. "What do you need?"

"I nearly got run over. No biggie," I shrugged.

"_What?_"

"Yeah, that was sort of my reaction too. I'm fine though, just a small bump to the head. Heal it for me?"

He didn't respond; just put one hand lightly on my head. I winced as the pain of the injury hit me again. That was the downside of healing powers: whatever pain you went through getting the injury, you had to suffer through again to get rid of it.

"Ow," I said, rubbing my scalp carelessly. "Well, I'm going to go upstairs and get stuck into my new novel. Feel free to stick around or leave as you will."

"What are you reading?" he asked me, following me upstairs.

I smirked slightly, knowing his reaction already. "'_Tall, Dark and Hungry_', another vamp novel."

He rolled his eyes before flashing out again, his voice echoing in the hallway. _"What am I going to do with you?"_


	8. VIII Damage Control And Touching Garlic

**I'm on a roll here people. Sorry for those people hoping I'll update DI sometime soon, but that one's going to be on the back burner for a bit while I get this one out of my system. Now. a very very very very (you get the picture) important issue. The plot bunnies have been hitting dear old (young?) me pretty hard, and I've been having a minor meltdown about this. Once ES is finished, should i do a sequel? (As this one is a rewrite of T, Overshadowed will be a rewrite of NM with major deviations. And after that is another three. Is it just me, or is that excessive?)Anyway. Enough of my rambling. Read on.**

I dressed to kill the next day. Not that I didn't usually, but more so today. Today's outfit consisted of a blouse unbuttoned as far as I could manage without risking arrest and/or guys attempting to feel me up even more, a pair of white leggings under a miniskirt and six inch heels.

I was dressed to kill, and it would be a most painful, horrible, and humiliating experience for those involved. Namely, the perpetually underestimating Edward Cullen.

It's always the cute ones, isn't it?

I drove to school and parked my car next to the Cullens, smirking as I did so. I idly wondered what my prize for winning the bet would be.

He-Who-Irritates-Frequently was leaning against his Volvo nonchalantly, swinging his keys around his finger. I looked closer; those keys didn't belong to the Volvo, but an Aston Martin. I smirked wider.

"So…" I said, pasting an innocent expression on. "What's my prize?"

His jaw dropped, and from the expressions on his siblings' faces, I guessed that didn't happen often.

"But- but how? T-t-that's n-not possible!"

"Are you always this articulate?" I drawled, thinking of my medieval court days; the last time I had used this particular inflection.

"You had a huge thumping _lump_ yesterday and now it's _gone_ and you're asking my about my _articulacy?_"

"Yeah, that sounds about right. What did I win?"

Edward didn't reply, but continued to stand there, mouth opening and closing and random intervals until Alice, seemingly fed up, grabbed the keys out of his hand and threw them at me. I caught them easily. Turns out I was right about the make of car. "Ooh, an Aston Martin! What kind?"

"Vanquish." That was Alice, too. Edward was still doing his goldfish impersonation.

"Ooh! Colour?"

"Black."

"Score." I looked down at the keys in my hand. "Wait 'till Ash hears." And with that, I began to walk into the school, trying to ignore the feeling of… was it guilt in my stomach?

I sighed heavily. It wasn't in me to steal someone's car out from under their noses. Or from under their backsides, as the case may be.

Turning, I tossed the keys back. He caught them with a startled expression. In response, I called back, "It's like stealing candy from a baby. Luckily for you, I've always liked kids too much to intentionally make them cry."

And with that, I strode off to my first class, grinning slightly at the sight and sound of Emmett and Jasper standing at attention, saluting me with a call of "God bless you, ma'am!"

"It's miss! Stop making me feel old!" I yelled back.

____

The next month and a half went past smoothly. Edward ignored me, acting as if I wasn't there, and after a few attempts of trying to figure out what the hell he was, I ignored him too.

People continued to come up to me for a while, asking about the van skooshing incident. I answered the same each time. Tyler had lost control of the van, I was in the way, I went under, and Edward pulled me out. Simple as that. When they pressed me for more details, I replied irritably that if they needed to know, they could ask Edward. Eventually, they gave up.

I was sitting in my car after school. The parking lot was deserted except for me. Good. There was something caught in my teeth, right between one of the front teeth, and my ridiculously long left canine. It felt cliché to call them fangs. If I was a normal exiled-goddess-sans-powers (ha) I wouldn't have fangs, but I was half Charonte (long story). Ash was too.

I tilted the rear-view mirror down to fully inspect my teeth. Spotting the offending object, I used one nail to pull it out. "Yes! I crowed. "And Lady Destruction does it again! Buffy Revamped, 1, Irritating Foodstuff, nil!" As I moved the mirror back in place, I saw Bella staring at me in shock, gaze firmly fixed on my mouth.

"Ah, shit," I whispered. _Damage control!_

"Hi, Bella!" I said, twisting in my seat, careful to speak around my fangs. It was a skill almost all supernatural creatures learned, although those who preferred to avoid humans didn't bother.

"Hi, Rya," she said, gaze still narrowed on me suspiciously. "What are you still doing here?"

"Checking I had my Trig homework and checking my makeup," I invented quickly. "I could ask the same of you."

"I sprained my wrist after gym. I just finished getting it patched up now."

Silence reigned for a few minutes; both of us in the car park, watching the other uncomfortably. In the end. Bella blurted out, "Are you wearing plastic vampire teeth?"

I sighed. Here it came. I knew could trust her though, I had seen it many times already. She sat in the passenger seat of my car, reluctantly impressed with the plushy interior. "Bella… what do you know about Atlantis?"

She frowned. "I asked about your teeth." At my droll look, she hastened to answer me. "Plato said it was an island within an island, separated by a channel of water. They were dedicated to the gods, and were, in turn blessed, until, one day, Atlantis sank under the waves… never to be seen again…"

I resisted the urge to snort. Plato had had no idea what he was talking about. "And did he mention a time frame?"

"9000 years before he wrote it… so, about… 11500 years ago?"

I nodded. "Now. I want you to forget everything you thought you knew about Atlantis. Before I get into anything though, when are you expected home?"

She bit her lip. "Not for a while, but I should let Charlie know in case he comes home early…"

"Use my cell."

I waited as she let him know she would be going to a friend's for a while, and would be back in a few hours. I drove to her house behind her elderly truck, and then pushed her into my cushy Porsche.

"Okay. Atlantis. Before we begin, I ask that for the convenience of all those concerned that the audience members remain seated, and quiet with all hands and feet remaining in the allocated space with no interruptions. Also for the convenience of those concerned could all mobile phones be promptly switched off?

"Twin isles, divided by a channel of water. Numerous shrines and temples everywhere. Shining marble pavement, golden sun in an azure sky. Sound nice?"

She nodded slowly.

"I only went there once, when I was seventeen. It wasn't a place I was particularly fond of, due to the circumstances-"

"Yeah, because you were on crack," she said. I glared.

"And fuck up my body more surely than cafeteria food would? I think not. Now. Moving on. I, myself was born in Greece. More specifically, to the royal couple in Didymos, with my twin, Acheron. We had another brother, Styxx, but even though he looked like us, we weren't _actually_ related. Let me start at the (very) beginning.

"A prophecy was made by the fates. You know who the Fates are in Greek mythology, yes? Good. They made a prophecy that the child Apollymi had just conceived would be a killer, the cause of the end of the world, and the death of all the Atlantean Gods. With me so far?

"Now, Apollymi had waited decades to conceive a child, and she wasn't going to allow her husband to kill her precious baby because his bastard daughters said so. In revenge, he had her confined to the Atlantean hell realm, Kalosis. A place of endless night, a place of darkness. A perfect setting for the goddess of destruction, really. Knowing her husband would come for the babe, she birthed him in secret. What she didn't expect was twins. Those twins are my brother and I."

I paused as we reached the garage. Grabbing her by the wrist, I dragged her into the lounge room and forced her to sit as I flopped down on one of the couches.

"I'm going to cut a _really_ long story short, and tell you that eventually, the Atlantean queen had me killed, in revenge for an imagined slight. Ash died trying to avenge me. Mother brought us back to life. Ash is now a god. Me, I'm the direct beginning of a new race. The Daimons."

Seeing Bella's confused look, I hastened to explain. "I would call them vampires, but they've been around a lot longer than the word vampire."

"And you're one of them," she stated.

"Sort of." At least she wasn't outright dismissing my claim.

The drive back to her house was a quiet one, until she felt the need to speak up again with questions.

"Do you drink blood?" Well, you didn't get more direct than that.

"Nope. You've seen me eat. Plus, some of the people around here, not even a blind, deaf, and starving Daimon would consider chowing down on. And Daimons are just after souls, not blood."

"Vampires don't drink blood?"

"Not these ones. It's not necessary, but a lot of them still do. It's a Hollywood myth that they need blood to survive."

"Huh."

I pulled up in front of her house and gave her a quick hug. "See you tomorrow."

_____

I didn't see her again until lunch time, where I spotted her sitting at our table, clutching a cross, and wearing a ring of garlic around her neck. I burst out laughing hysterically, having to hold on to a chair to support myself. I managed to make it to my usual seat without landing on my ass, or paying too much attention to any of the odd looks Bella and I were receiving. Angela was away today, so I didn't have to worry about explaining this all away to her.

"Stay back!" Bella said dramatically, brandishing the cross in my general direction. Obviously, what I had said the day before had sunk in.

I took the cross out of her hands, and held it close, pretending to writhe in pain. "Ow, ow!" I tossed it to one side and gave her a 'look'. "Don't you think _someone's_ tried that before?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What about the garlic, huh?"

"Well, it stinks, and it stinks real bad, but if you can deal with it, it isn't going to bother me."

"Would you still say that if I _touched_ you with it?"

I rolled my eyes, and decided to ignore that.

"What about beheading? Will that kill you?"

I leant over the table as if imparting something confidential. "Babe, beheading will kill just about anything. And if it doesn't, run."

"Ain't that the truth."

I whirled around only to see Fury, possibly one of my favourite guys on the planet. I squealed and jumped up to give him a huge hug. Quite an accomplishment considering he had about sixty pounds on me, as well as considerable height.

He was a Katagaria, animals who held the ability to turn into humans, and live as either, although their base form would always be whichever animal they were descended from. There were many different packs. This one came from the wolves.

It didn't mean they were savage or mental or anything. They were often more human than the humans the Arcadians claimed to be, humans with animal hearts, who shifted into animals.

"Oh my God! I've missed you! Where have you _been_?" My tone turned forbidding. "And _why_ haven't you called?"

His expression turned sheepish.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Hey, not that it's a bad thing, but why are you here?"

"Ash sent me to spring you from the hell hole for an 'appointment'. I thought he was joking about the hell hole part. Turns out, this is worse than mating season in the wolf pack," he said, sweeping a look over the students currently gathered. I winced. Mating season with the wolves was _not_ pretty. I'd seen Fury's scars. Again, not pretty.

"Ah, God bless you, Fury."

Bella finally snapped out of her little daze. "Fury? What kind of name is that?"

He looked upwards, as if beseeching a higher power. "Oh, how the uninitiated irritate me." He moved his gaze directly at her, and she moved back, just a little under the power of it. "It's not just my name, it's my temperament."

"Okay, enough with the dramatics. Stop scaring the newbie. Until yesterday afternoon, she was another one of the mass of ords."

"She was?" By this time, I had stood up and started leading him out of the cafeteria.

"Yeah. She caught me."

"Doing what?"

I just grinned widely at him in my most dazzling, vampiric smile.

"Ah."

**Tada! And there, ladies and gentlemen, is chapter eight. It gets better, let me assure you. And we will be seeing Fury many many times after this; he is an integral part of the to be decided sequels. If the majority of people decide it is excessive to do five in this little series, people can give me email addresses and once i get them typed, they'll be emailed out. Fear not. If you want to read them (when the appropriate time comes) you will be able to read them. Promise.**


	9. IX Posers! Fakers! All Lies!

**I told you I was on a roll! And about that little teeny tiny problem I was asking about, there is now a poll on my profile. Mkay?**

The next day (having kicked Fury out of my home and telling him to find his own goddamn place to sleep) at lunch time saw me sitting at my usual table with Bella, staring confusedly down at my math book. I wasn't sure how long I had been there unmoving, but judging from Bella's impatient stare, it had been a while.

"For god's sake! What has you so fascinated you won't tell me about the vamp- Daimons I keep hearing about?" Obviously, she couldn't take the silence any more.

"Help me," I managed, unable to tear myself away from the various lines that made up trigonometry.

"What with?" she said, frowning.

"This! Adding it gives you… no, no, but if you subtract… that doesn't work… but if you multiply there's too many of them… and if you divide, one of them ends up in bits. _Help_ me."

She bit her lip and began talking in a tone reminiscent of Dr. Phil. "I think, in a situation as extreme as this, there isn't any help to provide."

"But they're not numbers!" I dry sobbed, head in my hands. "Three-point-four-two-six-two-seven-zero-eight is _not_ a number! It's a bunch of squiggly lines _posing_ as numbers! Posers! Fakers! Lies! All lies!"

"Rya, seriously, calm down. Trig really isn't that hard. You just need to get your head around it."

"Great," I groaned, whacking my head on my damned book. "Fan-freaking-tastic. I'm doomed."

"How is it you've reached this age and don't know math?"

"I _do_ know math," I said, affronted, "but it's been so long since I bloody well had to _use_ it. I mean, how much math is there to sticking a pointy object into cowardly bullies?" This last part was said like it should be obvious to her. Quietly.

She giggled. Just then Mike came up to our table and sat down, grinning at us. Bella and I shared a glance (one that clearly said '_You deal with him'_) before hastily turning away from one another.

"Hi, Mike," I said reluctantly. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, Rya, there's a dance coming up this weekend, and I wanted to know if you were going to ask me to it."

Was it just my imagination, or were the Cullens (in a failed attempt to be sneaky) watching the exchange?

I wracked my mind, thinking of something, _anything_ that could save me now. "Um, some friends of mine are visiting, so I'm not going to go. And, I think your Jess would be upset."

"_My_ Jess?"

Of anything he could have payed attention to, it had to be that.

"Yeah. She likes you." _Way too freaking much_, I added mentally, recalling my first day where she spent five solid minutes on his various (non existent, to my eyes) charms. "And I don't think my friends would appreciate me not turning up."

He pouted. Personally, I thought it was an expression reserved purely for two year olds, but even people millennia old make mistakes. We're only human after all. Ha.

"Are you sure?" he wheedled.

"Very," I said firmly.

He sighed mournfully before turning away to go sit at his own table. I watched, vaguely repulsed but unable to look away as Jess began to fawn all over him. Not ten seconds had passed before she had asked him to the dance, and he accepted, while looking regretfully at me. I glared as he stared at me in a way I was sure he thought seductive.

"You have no idea just how tempting it is to unleash Thanatos on him."

She raised an eyebrow and made a small circling motion with one hand. "Thanatos…?"

"Demon/god/thing of death."

"Sounds like fun."

"Oh, yeah. He's a real blast. Especially when he's drunk, and someone laughs at his non-existent dance skills. Real blast."

"Is that a hint of some kind?"

"Wow, you ords aren't as dumb as I thought you were."

"Ords?"

"Ordinaries. Mundanes. The uninitiated; perpetually annoying those in the know with questions on _everything_." I narrowed my eyes mock seriously at her.

The bell rang, and we went off to class. I parked myself in my seat, dropping my bag and rubbing my shoulder. All the weaponry was weighing me down. I usually had way more than what I did now (two daggers, a handgun, a full set of shuriken and an extendable sword), but it was unbalanced and beginning to irritate me.

"Hey, Rya." That was Eric, now standing in front of me grinning way too enthusiastically for my liking.

"Eric."

"Rya…"

I kept my mouth shut and clasped my hands firmly together in my lap, and tried not to look at my bag.

"Willyougowithmetothespringdance?"

"Nope."

He looked crestfallen. Damn me for having a conscience. "I have plans for this weekend already."

"Oh."

"Sorry." Well, no I wasn't, but hey, whatever works, right?

"Have you already asked someone then?"

"Nope."

"Not anyone?"

"Nope."

"Not the Cullens?"

"Eric, two of the guys are in a steady relationship, and I nearly got the other one's car. If they chose anyone at all to go with, I'm about 99.99% sure it wouldn't be me."

"Okay then."

I slumped over onto the desk.

"What was that about?"

I groaned. "What did it look like, Edward? The guy doesn't have enough bloody brain cells to follow simple survival instinct. You guys, you're all the same. You think that 'no' means' yes' and 'get lost' means 'take me, I'm yours'."

A small silence followed.

"You don't have any reply for that, do you?" I asked.

"Nope," he said, smiling cheerfully.

"Huh," I said, blinking. I turned to the front of the room and began copying down some notes.

____

School ended. I couldn't have been happier. The boys asking me out (yet again) had put me in a somewhat bad mood, and I had ended up taking it out on my gym class: it turned out many of them seemed to get trick knees trying to go after the birdie.

Bella was walking back with me to my car; I was giving her a lift home today. I was about to pull out of my parking space when Edward reversed, and then stopped, so no one could get out.

Bella grimaced and turned in her seat, surveying the build up forming. "Great," she said. "I was going to go to La Push for a bit, visit an old friend, but at the rate this is going, it'll be dark before we hit the main road." Considering the main road was only two blocks from here, I thought she was being a bit dramatic. Then again, seeing how slowly the rest of the Cullens were walking towards the parking lot, she had a point.

"Hey! Rya!" Ye Gods, the plague had returned. Not a plague of pus and boils and fleas and what not, but empty headed boys.

"Tyler," I managed through gritted teeth, repeating to myself: _Not his fault Mike and Eric don't have a clue. Not his fault Mike and Eric don't have a clue_.

"I was wondering if you'd ask me to the dance."

"No, Tyler." _Not his fault Mike and Eric don't have a clue._

"Aw, come on Rya."

"No, Tyler, I have plans." _Not his fault Mike and Eric don't have a clue._

"Yeah, I know. That's what Mike said."

My limited patience was growing thin. "You _know?_ Then why did you ask me?"

"I figured you were letting him down easily." _Not his fault_- okay, screw it, it was completely his fault.

"I'm. Not. Going. Tyler. Okay?"

"Okay," he shrugged. "There's still prom."

And before I could punch him, he was gone.

I turned to look at Bella, jaw wide open. And over her shoulder, I could have sworn I saw Edward laughing.

**Shouldn't be too long before the next chapter comes out... next is Edward (sort of) asking her out, and Port Angeles. But with Rya, there's a twist. Cue evil laugh and dramatic sounding music.**

**Next Chapter:  
****In which Jess is invited  
In which Rya scares the shit out of Edward**

**_"Save the innocent... save myself... save the innocent... fuck it. He's not innocent at all."_  
**


	10. X Red Gold and Green x 9000

**Oh, how I've missed you all, faithful readers. But Lady Destruction was good and put out another chapter, just for you, despite a highly emotional occurrence last Friday (shut up Kortz, you're not allowed to comment). Now. A few points, dear readers.**

**There is a poll on my profile on how many sequels, if any, I should do. It would help me **_**immensely**_** (hint hint) if you were to vote. **

**There is a link, also on my profile, to a list of gods in the Dark Hunter world. If you'd like pictures, go there (in my imagination, Rya looks just like Apollymi except her hair is a white blonde and she looks younger). If it's a bio or description you're after, you're better off asking me for one.**

**There is a story I have found on ff that I thought I'd recommend. It's some of the funniest shit I've read in a long time. It's a Twilight fic called 'Tortured soul', by no.1Schizo. It's brilliant. Another hilarious story is a HP one called 'Her and Me', Dramione, and I can't remember who it's by. Fucking funny though. My personally favourite part is the refrigerator exorcism. **

**This chapter follows closer to the book than the others do, so I thought I'd warn you,. It helped the story flow better, and there were some calls I couldn't resist having Rya make. Kudos to Red Dwarf for her lack of vocab.**

**Now, after this ridiculously long author's note, onto the story.**

Thursday morning. Rainy. Funny, that.

As I pulled into the school lot, I parked as far away from Mike's, Eric's and Tyler's cars as I could. If I got too close, I just knew one of them would suffer horrendous damage which would be a little awkward to explain.

_Sorry, sir. But I do have a good reason for destroying his car, sir. You see, he asked me to the school dance when he had absolutely no right to! Why doesn't he have a right? Because I'm very nearly a goddess who could kill him. Heck, I could kill him even without being a goddess. Wanna see? Are you okay, sir? You've turned purple and you're breathing funny. Is there someone I should call?_

Yeah, that would go over well.

Walking to my first class, I was somewhat surprised to see Edward fall into step beside me. I turned around angrily to face him.

"What the _hell_ was that for?"

"What?" Funny, Edward. Don't you dare act innocent; you know bloody well what you did.

"Yesterday afternoon. Hey, out of curiosity, have you made it your personal mission in life to irritate me to death?"

"No!" he said, stung. "And you know Tyler would have asked you anyway. I just really really wanted to see his face."

"You are a total, total, complete, utter… a word has yet to be invented for what you are, but you are one. And a total, total, complete and utter one at that."

If looks could've killed, he would've been nothing more than a bloody mass on the ground. And not even a very large one at that.

He laughed before sobering up.

"So… what am I exactly?"

I groaned in frustration, looking around for the nearest wall to slam my head on. "I just explained this to you. How is it you didn't get it?"

"I just wanted some clarification, that's all."

I could feel my eye twitching. Not good.

"Got to get out of here," I muttered to myself, walking away quickly. "Before _someone_ pushes it just a _little _too far…"

"So. What I was going to ask in the first place…" I stopped walking; my curiosity piqued. "You know, next weekend, you know, the day of the spring dance…"

I swung round, hand poised to slap. The only thing saving his overly pretty face from a violent death was his quick reflexes. "So you _are_ trying to infuriate me to death?"

"You didn't let me finish."

I narrowed my eyes.

"So. Anyway. The day of the spring dance. I heard you saying you were having trouble with the math coursework-"

"You were listening in to my conversation?"

"It was rather hard to miss it, thank you very much! Moving on! And I also heard that you wouldn't be going, and had the day free. I was going to ask-"

"If it's a date you want, my friends are coming over. And from your listening in, you should know that."

"For the last time! I wasn't listening in! I was right bloody next to you when you said it! Now," he said, calming down visibly, "What time are your friends coming around?"

"In the evening on Sunday," I admitted.

"But Saturday's the da-"

"I know, I just really don't want to go. Especially not with Mike, Eric, or Tyler."

"Okay, fair enough. How about I come by on the Saturday morning?"

"Sounds alright then." Seeing the look of confusion on his face, I explained. "There are far worse things I could be doing with my weekend."

The bell rang, and I headed off to class, not looking behind me as I left. But while I was turning, I thought I saw him grin.

Lunch time. Again. Blessed freedom from the dictatorship of class. Dreaded torture time of forcing cross sections of dachshunds and something I was sure wasn't considered edible even in third world countries upon the student body.

As I stood next to Bella in the line, gazing out a window, whispers penetrated my little world I was inhabiting at that moment.

"_What's he doing?"_

"_But they always sit together!"_

"_He looks like he's staring at someone."_

"_Really?!? Who? Tell me!"_

I glanced over to Bella to ask her what the h-e-double toothpicks was going on, and saw her watching me, like the rest of the student body, holding not-so-hushed conversations.

It was unnerving, really. "Bella?"

She pointed to where Edward was sitting on his own, gaze fixed on me, smiling serenely.

"Ah," I said. "Say no more."

I left the lunch line and sat down, eyebrow raised inquisitively.

"I felt it was time for something different. And anyway, if I'm going to hell, I may as well do it thoroughly."

I grinned. "No, see, that's where you're wrong. It doesn't matter if you _thoroughly_ deserve it or not; you'll be tortured regardless. Hades is one sick guy sometimes, really sick. You know what he'll do? Play crappy pop songs over, and over, and over again, until you can't hear the words 'red gold and green' again without cringing. He's real messed up that way."

"I hope you know I have no clue what you're talking about," he said.

I grinned wider. "I know, don't worry. But let me put it this way. Karma Chameleon is a great song. The first nine thousand times you hear it. So why do you think you need to thoroughly deserve hell?"

"Because I'm giving up. I'm just going to do whatever I want now, and damn whatever follows."

"And now you've lost me."

"That's probably for the best, as I always seem to say too much around you."

"Worry not, dear Edward, I don't understand half of it. Sometimes I wonder if we're speaking the same language at all."

"Surprising thing is, I know what you mean."

"So in plain English now, instead of the variant that sounds exactly the same, yet means something completely different, are we friends, or acquaintances, or casual fuck-buddies or what?"

"Friends…" he mused dubiously.

"A whole two syllables. Difficult, I know," I sniped.

"I suppose we can try. A warning though; I'm not a good friend to have."

"So you think we should be fuck buddies then?" He shot me an unamused look. "Fine then," I said, sighing dramatically. "Don't be my boy toy. Moving on. You don't want to be my friend because you think you're a crappy person to know? Yeah, because _I'm_ so much better," I laughed.

"What are you thinking when you say that?"

"Of how fucked up Bella and Angela are now that I've corrupted them. Actually, I'm thinking of what I am, and how that fits in with who you are." It was true enough. I'd roamed this earth for far too long and had only once come across someone else like him. I smiled faintly at the thought; I missed him and his family and friends.

"And who do you think I am?"

"Not sure yet. I have a few theories, but I'm still mulling it over." He was certainly gorgeous enough to be a Were-Hunter, but I wasn't getting the 'vibe' from him, so I ruled that one out.

My other half-formed idea was that he was related to a Greek god somehow. There was another way I could have put that, but I was loathe to connect 'Edward Cullen' in anyway to 'demigod', even if it was in my own head. Plus, I hated pretty much all the Greek pantheon anyway.

"Tell me?"

"Nope."

"That's really frustrating, you know."

He didn't just say what I think he just said. "Really?" I asked sarcastically. "Why would that be frustrating? Just because someone won't tell you what they're thinking, even though the whole time they're making odd little remarks that don't quite make sense, specifically designed to give you migraines trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Really now Edward. Suck it up. Rub some dirt on it. Be a man."

He rubbed the back of his neck, glancing from side to side in a (predestined to fail) effort to escape. "Nice temper."

"Double standards sicken me."

I was dying to know what he was thinking, going so far as to try using my non-existent powers.

And now I had a headache.

We glared at each other a little longer before I broke the silence. "Warn me the next time you try to live up to your noble side, mkay?"

"Why?"

"So I can call Fury to amuse me."

"Fair enough."

"I thought so."

"On one condition though."

Ah, fuck. "What's the condition?" I asked warily, trying again to figure out what was running through that boy's head. My brother and I had experience with this kind of manipulation and it _never_, emphasis on 'never', turned out well for us.

"Give me one theory."

"Give me a 'fuck', 'off', 'I'm', 'not', telling'."

He gave me a confused look.

I sighed and elaborated.

"It means 'no'."

"Come on. Please?"

"Only if you promise to take it in the spirit in which it is offered."

"Come again?"

"Yes please."

He didn't dignify that with a response, choosing instead to indulge his more dramatic tendencies by pinching the bridge of his nose and breathing deeply.

"One of your ancestors wouldn't happen to be excessively good looking and Greek, would they? Say, like, a god of some kind?"

Hey, in the fucked up world I lived in, the idea wasn't so far fetched.

Edward, however, didn't agree with me.

"I haven't heard _that_ one before," he smirked.

"Aw, now, I'm sorry. I'll make sure I run any further ideas past you to gain approval next time, alright?"

"You're not even close."

"Yeah, I should have guessed. Idiots, brainwashed innocents who didn't know better and the mentally retarded worshipped the Sumerian pantheon, not the Greek." Yeah, the Sumerians and the Greeks and the Atlanteans didn't get along very well. Not very well at all. Amazing the Earth was still in one piece and (relatively) intact, really.

"I'm not Greek _or_ Sumerian."

"Pity. It made the easiest explanation."

"Atlantis wasn't real either."

Okay, now he went too far. Teasing me about the people I considered friends, that was fine; they could defend themselves. If they ever found out, that was. But actively mocking my heritage?

"Watch it, Cullen."

"What, do you believe in Atlantis?"

"You could say that," I smirked.

"I'll figure you out someday, you know that, Rya?"

"Same goes, Eddie."

"Don't call me Eddie. And I wish you wouldn't try."

"And why would that be, Edwardiana?"

"That's even worse. And what if… I'm not good, like everyone thinks I am? What if… I'm the bad guy in all this?"

"Ah, _now_ I see," I said. This suddenly all made so much more sense. "You think you're dangerous."

"_Think?_"

"That's cute, it really is." It didn't matter what the heck he was; Daimon, Gallu, Charonte. He still wasn't dangerous to my brother or me.

Narrowing my eyes in concentration, I stared intently at him, thinking maybe direct eye contact would help my quest to 'hear' Edward. Ash could do it, why the holy flipping fudge muffins couldn't I?

"But you're not bad," I said, still watching him carefully. "Not at all."

I stood up. "Aren't you coming to class?"

"Ditching is healthy."

And with that, I bid him farewell and went to Biology.

**Okay people, I haven't written a chapter this bloody long since the first one, so be happy. Clear?**

**I accomplished loads this chapter *happy dance, happy dance!*. Twilight is progressing. If you hadn't picked it up, the math help is a sub for the trip to Seattle. This is a major freaking step for them; they're actually talking. I think instead of them both knowing they're in love with the other and doing their best to avoid it, it's going to sneak up behind them and whack them over the head.**

**We had some bantering that was borderline flirting- that's just the way Rya is. She has a history (unlike the virginal Edward) and she isn't ashamed of it. Actually, she keeps (and will keep) running into her exes, who she's managed to part good friends with. More on that later.**

**And this chapter had plot! For the sequel! A plot for an as-of-yet irrelevant story! I'm awesome!**

**Review, people. I went to lots of effort for this chapter, and I'd really like (really really really really really really really really really really) like to know what you think of the progression made. And I'm not afraid to guilt trip you next time either. So review!**


	11. XI Of Tarnished Armor and Cheddar Cheese

**Merry Christmas, everybody! I hope reading this chapter improves your Christmas as writing it did mine. And with the sappy thoughts out of the way, enjoy! And review! (By the way, the contents of this chapter are actually important. Just in case any of you don't think so.)**

I sat down in my seat, rubbing my temples absentmindedly. _You know, he's not as bad as you thought he was._

_Shut up._

_C'mon Rya, loosen up. Live a little._

_Who asked you?_

_You know, talking… thinking… to yourself is the first sign of madness?_

_If after all this time I've only reached the first sign, I'm doing well._

With that, I resolved to start ignoring the little voice in the back of my head. It was annoying me.

As were all the others.

I frowned. I (despite what one may think) didn't usually hear voices at all, let alone this many. Sighing, I lay my head down on my folded arms and concentrated on the little voices; seeing if they were figments of my imagination or something far more sinister.

_**Wow, he is so hot. **_

_**I'd tap that…**_

_**I'm so fat…**_

_**Is it so much to ask that the bus be on time for once?**_

_**Oh my Lord, that is disgusting.**_

I closed my eyes and wished hard that I had a Panadol or ten with me. My headache was increasing to insane levels. So many freaking voices.

I figured they weren't an omen of my impending schizophrenia, but something else. Thoughts, maybe? I was sure I had heard Ash go through this before, in New Orleans. We had a psychic bond, of sorts; bonded by trauma.

_**That cake was delicious…**_

_**You sick bastard.**_

_**Mama?**_

_**Why can't I just get this right?**_

_**I screw everything up.**_

_**Wanda! Wanda!**_

I wrinkled my nose in disgust: I had managed to 'overhear' a guy and his girlfriend. No, wait…

That was his sister. Oh, gross.

_**Help me, someone help me, please…**_

_**No! Stay away!**_

_**The milk is off.**_

_**I hope he likes it…**_

_**Ha, she broke a nail. Sucks to be her.**_

_**Help me**_

_**Help me**_

_**Help me**_

_**HELP ME**_

I groaned; if I guessed right, there were roughly six billion little voices all clamouring for attention. And it hurt.

"Miss Akrak… Miss, are you alright?"

"No, not really," I forced out.

"Do you need to go to the nurse?"

I didn't think anything this nurse had to offer would help, but what the hell.

"Yeah, that'd be nice."

"Newton! Help Miss Akraka… Aria to the nurse's station."

"Sure."

So here I was, being yanked down the sidewalk by a guy reminiscent of a puppy with saliva gland issues.

"Okay, let go of me," I said, unable to stand it any longer, plunking myself down on the sidewalk. I lay down so my head was resting on the cold concrete and nearly moaned, it felt so good.

"You don't look too hot," Mike said. I opened my eyes and glared at him.

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response."

"But… you just did," he said, confused.

"Go away."

"Shouldn't you like, call someone?"

I opened my eyes again. "You know, for once, that isn't a half bad idea."

"Why thank you," he crowed proudly. I just snickered quietly to myself, tuned out the voices, and yanked out my cell phone.

Not wanting to alert Mike to anything… unseemly… I started talking in code as soon as Ash picked up the phone, emphasizing some words and not others.

"You must be **psychic, Bond**. Either that or you're **hearing voices**. Must **hurt like hell**. Care for me to **make it stop**?"

"Oops."

"Damn right, oops."

And with that, I hung up, headache becoming even more vicious. While I had been talking, it turned out Edward had joined our little fray. Damn, damn, and double damn. I didn't need to be making an idiot of myself in front of Wonder Boy.

Where did that come from?

I groaned, dropping the phone from limp fingers.

"Rya? Are you okay?" What a stupid question. Couldn't he tell from the look on my face that I wasn't okay? And was it totally necessary for him to be laughing like that as he said it?

"Fuck off, Edward."

"Yeah, Edward, you heard her. Go away." Then again, he was no better. I didn't particularly want a knight in shining armour; the armour always, without exception, tarnished.

"You know what? You can fuck off too, Mike."

"What did I do?"

Without needing to open my eyes, I could tell he was pouting, and that Edward was suppressing more laughter.

My headache eased as the cacophony ceased, and I breathed out a sigh of relief.

Then abruptly stopped as my stomach tightened and bile rose in my throat.

I got up and sprinted for the nearest bathroom, barely making it before I leaned over a toilet, puking out my guts. Whoever designed the school had a sick sense of humour, putting the bathroom so far away from everything else.

After an indeterminate amount of time, the retching stopped, and I leaned back against one of the walls, wiping my brow, grimacing up at Edward and Mike who were now standing over me. They looked concerned, but I could tell they were hiding amusement.

"Rya? Are you okay?" What a stupid question. Couldn't he tell from the look on my face- and what I had just been doing- that I wasn't okay?

"Whatever you're going to say, Edward, I suggest you just get it over and done with before I recuperate to the level where I feel capable of killing you. Just say it: it can't possible make me feel any worse than what I do right now.

Little did I know how wrong I was.

"You're in the boys' bathroom."

After he charmed our way out of school, he picked me up (kicking, but not daring to scream) and dropped me in his Volvo. I looked longingly over to where my Porsche was parked, but was quickly told that wasn't an option. Pouting, I handed the keys over to Edward, who then ran off to hide them somewhere.

When he got back, I started threatening him. "My baby had better come back in perfect condition. So much as a scratch on her and I will take it out of your hide, are we clear?"

"Mm-hm."

He obviously wasn't listening to me.

"And then I'll rip off your head and dance in your entrails, burn what's left, collect the ashes and feed them to a duck."

"Mm-hm."

Still not listening.

"And then I'll feed the duck to a piranha, and burn the piranha, collect those ashes and them bury them! Come midnight, I'll be doing a voodoo ritual on your grave!"

"Mm-hm."

I was grinning now. This was fun.

"You know, I've met the Roman emperor Nero? Something not quite right about him. I suppose, yes, he did lead his people, and it obviously worked, but it was a shame about the temper, really. "

"Mm-hm."

Now I was struggling to suppress laughter. Time to kick it up a notch. (Bam!)

"And you know what? Stonehenge is made of cheese! Cheddar, at that. And the moon's just solid rock, sad to say. Of course, I only knew that because in 1342, I flew there with the pope, and-"

"Wait, what?"

This time, I did giggle. Horrified, I clapped one hand over my mouth. I did _not_ giggle.

Moving on, I laughed. Not giggled.

"I've been doing this since we got into the car, you know."

He looked as if to die of embarrassment. "Oh. I didn't mean to, really. It's just that you were threatening me, and no-one wants to listen to that, because that's just cruel, listening to details of your own impending death and then…"

We reached my home; I was a little surprised he knew where it was. Disregarding that thought for know with the promise of chasing it up later, I got out of the car, him still rambling.

Mocking him a little, smiling wickedly, I replied. "Mm-hm."

**Actual action coming up next chapter! Promise!**


	12. Sneak Previews

**Thought I'd give you a sneak preview of the summaries (ridiculously vague, but 'twil do), and some random scene from each. Sound like fun? I've had them written in my journal (silver with holographic butterflies- totally awesome) for weeks now, and I'm busting to share them with somebody. Else.**

**I was also considering doing them from Edward's point of view- mostly because I reckon it'd be freaking hilarious to hear his perspective on some of the weird shit Rya does- and will do. So the summaries will be below, and a random scene from each will follow its summary. Capische?**

**Evening Star (Aria's POV)****- When a new girl comes to town, it's cause for interest. When the new girl is 11,500 years old, interest levels are going to rise. When the new girl discovers a coven of vegetarian vampires, chaos is going to ensue. No duh…**

I groaned, dropping the phone from limp fingers.

"Rya? Are you okay?" What a stupid question. Couldn't he tell from the look on my face that I wasn't okay? And was it totally necessary for him to be laughing like that as he said it?

"Fuck off, Edward."

"Yeah, Edward, you heard her. Go away." Then again, he was no better. I didn't particularly want a knight in shining armour; the armour always, without exception, tarnished.

"You know what? You can fuck off too, Mike."

"What did I do?"

Without needing to open my eyes, I could tell he was pouting, and that Edward was suppressing more laughter.

My headache eased as the cacophony ceased, and I breathed out a sigh of relief.

Then abruptly stopped as my stomach tightened and bile rose in my throat.

I got up and sprinted for the nearest bathroom, barely making it before I leaned over a toilet, puking out my guts. Whoever designed the school had a sick sense of humour, putting the bathroom so far away from everything else.

After an indeterminate amount of time, the retching stopped, and I leaned back against one of the walls, wiping my brow, grimacing up at Edward and Mike who were now standing over me. They looked concerned, but I could tell they were hiding amusement.

"Rya? Are you okay?" What a stupid question. Couldn't he tell from the look on my face- and what I had just been doing- that I wasn't okay?

"Whatever you're going to say, Edward, I suggest you just get it over and done with before I recuperate to the level where I feel capable of killing you. Just say it: it can't possible make me feel any worse than what I do right now.

Little did I know how wrong I was.

"You're in the boys' bathroom."

**Rising Sun (Edward's POV) ****The new girl is dangerous to the Cullens, tempting one of their number to break the rules they've lived by for so long. But at the same time, some unknown quality she possesses fascinates them- not least her past, her ability to block their powers, and her fucked up sense of humour.**

She pulled into her spot, and exited gracefully. I couldn't help but notice how far her blouse was unbuttoned. Apparently the others couldn't help it either.

_Whoa. She's hot. _That would be Emmett, of course.

_Oh, my god. She looks so good. Do I look as good as that? Calm down; of course I do. I look better. Yeah, I do. _Rosalie, typically vain.

_Is that top designer? It looks like Chanel, winter line… _Alice, concerned with fashion as always.

_She's smug. I wonder why? _Jasper, reading her emotions. Smug? Why would she be smug?

I twirled the keys to my Aston Martin around my finger to cover up my sudden panic. She couldn't be…

"So… What's my prize?" she asked, smiling like a cat that had eaten the canary.

I felt my jaw drop open, but wasn't able to do anything to pull it back up. My family's thoughts echoed my own: disbelief. And in my disbelief, I stuttered.

"But- but how? T-t-that's n-not possible!"

"Are you always this articulate?" she asked me, drawing out some words and clipping others short in a monotone that did nothing except get on my nerves.

"You had a huge thumping _lump_ yesterday and now it's _gone_ and you're asking my about my _articulacy?_"

I could feel my family giving me odd looks. I never lost my cool; I never resorted to yelling at anyone; I was the untouchable Edward Cullen. But something about this _girl_, this puny human _girl_ just pushed my buttons, and worse, I reacted.

"Yeah, that sounds about right. What did I win?"

How could she be so blasé about this? And how could my family betray me like this, giggling at my misfortune?

I opened my mouth to continue yelling at her, but couldn't think of anything to yell. I kept trying, but nothing came out.

Then Alice, the traitor, snatched the keys off of me and threw them, far too hard at her. I watched in horror; they were going to fly over her shoulder and get lost and we'd all be exposed and then-

She caught them. It only took a split second, then her hand was in front of her face, inspecting the keys.

"Ooh, an Aston Martin! What kind?"

"Vanquish."

No, Alice! How could you?!? I was going to say something, but Rya cut me off.

"Ooh! Colour?"

"Black."

"Score. Wait 'till Ash hears."

I watched her go, keys in her hand, and felt like hitting something or sulking.

And then a set of car keys were making their way towards my head. They found their way back into my hands, and as I was about to ask what the hell was going on, she started talking. What was it with her and cutting me off?!?

"It's like stealing candy from a baby. Luckily for you, I've always liked kids too much to intentionally make them cry."

"Is she inferring I was going to cry?" I muttered to Alice.

"No," she replied. "She implied it. And I'm inferring you're an idiot."

Why did all the women in my life continually feel the need to cut me down?

**Overshadowed (Aria's POV)**** Rya has some issues she's never dared share, not even with Forks' residential vampires. When these issues give way to events driving the couple apart, is anything strong enough to keep them together? (No points given for answering).**

I was wringing my hands in my lap unconsciously. Then stopped. I _hated _hand-wringers. Then they started again. I stopped them. They started. It was like they had a mind of their own.

"Knock it off!" I snapped at them.

"God, Rya. Don't take it out on the hands. What did they ever do to you?"

I ran over to Ash and pulled him close, grabbing the front of his shirt to bring him down to my level.

"Help me."

"What with?"

"These damn powers; they're driving me nuts. I can't handle this."

"Okay, just sit down, calm down. Okay? Okay. What exactly can't you handle?"

"_Everything!_ Why me for love, lust and seduction anyway? God! They're ruining my perceptions, as well. Even _Newton_ is beginning to sound appealing. Newton!"

"God, this _is_ serious."

"Glad you seem to grasp that simple premise."

"So… it's the teenage boys' lust rubbing off on you?"

"Yeah…"

"So you need an outlet."

"Yeah…"

"You know what the easiest solution for all this is?"

"No…"

"You are thick, you know that? Just sleep with someone."

**Starless Night (Edward's POV)**** His one true love has been keeping secrets. He can't blame her; he has some himself. But when things conspire to break them and their love, are they strong enough to rise above it? Or will they sink down into their starless night?**

"Go away."

"Edward-"

"Go away."

"Come on-"

"Go away!"

"Edward!"

"Fuck off, Tanya."

"How come you'll swear at me and not them?"

"Get lost, will you?"

"Not with you to guide me."

"Which I'll never do," I snarled, getting up and running away from her and my family. Because that's what I did best: run away. I ran away from Tanya, I ran away from Rya, heck, I even managed to run away from Death and God at the hands of Carlisle.

I ran, and Lord help me, I felt (somewhat) better for it.

**Supernovae (Aria's POV)**** The star-crossed lovers reunited. What more is there? A proposal (of sorts), a new family (kind of), an old family interrupting (again) and an army (or two) out to get them. Joy…**

"When were you going to tell me, Rya?"

I ignored him, choosing instead to walk back to where I'd parked my car. I could've poofed out to avoid him, but I really didn't want to leave my car. And walking to it might give me a chance to calm down.

"Well?"

I climbed over the roots of an aggressively growing tree and came face to face with him.

"When were you going to tall me?"

"When I figured you would be mature about it, Edward! This… your reacting this way… is exactly why I didn't tell you earlier! That, and did you consider that there are things about me I didn't want you to know? For fear you would be ashamed. I didn't want that. Please, Edward." My tone was softening, bordering on pleading. "Anger, sadness, confusion, I can deal with. But not shame. Never your shame."

**Falling Star (Edward's POV)**** She is his again, and that's the way he intends to keep it, sharing his past with her and thinking she did the same. Not so. Eleven millennia ago, things happened she would forever regret and try to forget, and they're confronting them both now.**

"I'm the world's best predator, aren't I?"

Her tone of voice was mocking. As well it should be; I could recall this conversation word for word exactly the same: only our positions were different.

"Everything about me invites you in- my voice, my face, my body, my _smell_. As if I need any of that."

She jumped up and instantly disappeared, reappearing on the other side of the room, before disappearing again, reappearing once again in front of me.

"As if you could outrun me."

She put out one hand and a ball of light emerged, heading towards one of our chairs, destroying it before it fixed itself in an instant.

"As if you could fight me off."

She moved closer to me, perhaps sensing fear. It was there; half buried, but there.

"Don't be afraid," she murmured, her silken voice unintentionally seductive. "I promise… no, I _swear_ not to hurt you. Don't be afraid."

**Second Sunrise (Aria's POV)**** Celebrating the upcoming marriage, family friends have come to visit. But a misunderstanding is threatening to separate them. For real this time. No, really. **

I stifled a small cry of pain and set off back down the hallway to leave the house as fast as I could. I made it down the upper flight of stairs without incident, but I moved too quickly in my haste to get away. My leg protested at what I was asking of it and gave out at the top of the first storey stairs. I fell down them, further abusing my bruised and battered body.

When I rolled off the last step I groaned in pain, and looked up to see Emmett, Alice and Rosalie standing over me in concern.

I pulled myself to my feet through sheer force of will.

"What's wrong? Rosalie asked.

I laughed without humour as I practically dragged myself back out to my car.

"Go upstairs and see for yourself."

I stumbled through my front door. Gathering my strength, I placed a quick glamour over myself, not wanting Ash to see the state I was in.

"Hey, Ash. I'm going to New Orleans, okay?"

He looked up and frowned. "Why?"

I shrugged casually, biting my lip at the pain it caused me. "Need a change of scenery. And I want to see Fury again."

"What about Edward?"

I thought for a split second about telling Ash, but then dismissed it. For all I was mad at him, I didn't want him dead.

"I'll leave him a note."

He nodded slowly. "Alright. Do you need to feed?"

"Yeah," I said, looking away. "Just… could you do that while I write this note?"

He smiled a little. "To go?"

I smiled a little. "That would be best."

I walked carefully and sat by the now unused breakfast bar.

I picked up a pencil and a sheet of black paper. Grimacing, I looked around for another piece. Eventually I gave up and swapped me pencil for a silver glitter gel pen.

Taking a deep breath, I began to write.

**New Day (Edward's POV)**** 'Fiancée'. A word below only 'wife'. Before he can get her to change from the former to the latter, something happens to shake her faith in him, herself, and just everyone in general. So now to win her back, her supernatural friends are offering a course in 'How to Get a Girl 101'…**

Smiling saucily, she led us down the back roads of New Orleans towards a building that had music that could be heard ages away- by a vampire, at least.

"Where are we going?" Jasper asked her.

"You'll see soon enough," the woman promised. "Akra Rya asked the Simi to bring you to the special place and Simi will bring you whether you like it or not. And if you don't like it, the Simi will eat you. With barbeque sauce," she continued in a sing-songy voice.

My family and I exchanged confused glances. What the heck did Rya have planned?

All of a sudden, the woman came to a stop, looking confused. "The Akra Rya said she'd meet the Simi and the others here. Where is she?"

Before anyone could answer, saying that they _couldn't_ answer, we were interrupted by a voice floating out an alley way.

"… Call this number, and tell him Ryssa sent you. He'll understand. The work can be hard, but it's fair, and so is the pay. You don't have to do this, you know…"

It cut off there as one of the people ran past us, a wad of cash in hand.

The other one followed slowly out, sighing mournfully. It was Rya. "I tried."

Then she noticed us and smiled malevolently. "Good job, Simi. Thank you."

Rya linked arms with… Simi, and motioned for us to follow her down the street where the music was coming from.

"This is my favourite nightclub," she said, grinning, gesturing upwards. "I thought you guys might like it." I looked up and saw the name of the club: 'Club Vampyre'.

Very funny.

She skipped the line and kissed the bouncer on the cheek. "Hey, Xarine. How's the club tonight?"

"Lots of people, Xarine's let in, but not packed full."

"Sounds good. C'mon, Simi."

Pushing the doors open, she led us inside, still smiling. "Oh, my God," she exclaimed. "I love this song!"

And with that, she jumped over the railing onto the dance floor. I tried following her with my eyes (Alice wouldn't let us go further in; too busy checking out the interior decorating), but quickly lost her. After a while, I sidled over to Emmett and asked, "Where did Rya go?"

He gave me a funny little half smile. Not knowing what it was for, I checked his mind.

_He's not going to like this. Everyone else might, but not him…_

"What am I not going to like?" I demanded.

Still smiling that odd smile, he turned me towards the dancers. "See the clearing in the middle?"

"Yeah…" I said, confused.

"And the sexy dancer in the middle?"

I might love Rya, but this woman was good at what she did. Wow. "Yeah…"

"That's her."

"What?" I said, shocked.

"Why do you keep letting this girl go, Edward?" he asked me, shaking me dramatically.

"Hey, Rose?" he said, speaking to his wife now. "You know I love you right?"

He then pushed into the crowd, cheering Rya- the woman Emmett thought was Rya- on.

Because it couldn't be her. She'd never dance like that with all those people in front of me.

Would she?

**Nightfall (Aria's POV)**** The powers that be seem to think this couple hasn't suffered enough under their ministrations. So, lucky people that they are, have another catastrophe to deal with. But she doesn't know it, because she doesn't know them…**

I haven't thought of a scene for this one yet, just the plot. Sorry…

**Sundown (Edward's POV)**** They're finally together, bound in holy matrimony. His wife doesn't know it, however, because she can't remember it. What's a man to do when his one and only believes she's bound to his brother?**

See previous note for this one.

**So there you have it. Summaries, names, hints, teasers. Now vote, damn you! Vote! Or, at the very least, review. This page will be moved to the end of the story so far. So get the update, and backtrack a chapter and there it'll be.**

**Later, homies.**


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